Denial, Definitely
by Love-And-War1999
Summary: Jason is just a regular guy in High School but when a transferred student from Goode High, named Percy, appears in his Math class, his friends won't leave him alone about how Jason's denying the fact that he's totally crushing on him. With Thalia as a sister, it won't take long before Jason finally cracks and what's with Annabeth's weird obsession with ship names? Bonus Chap:Leico
1. Jercy

**I don't know, I like Jercy and I noticed there weren't many of JasonxPercy stories so I decided to write one. Definitely OOC but whatever. At first, when I wrote this, I wasn't picturing Jason denying his feelings but that's how it turned out. Reviews appreciated...**

**-Angela R.**

* * *

**Jason**

"I hate high school," Leo groaned as he and Jason walked to their next class. The hallways were jam-packed with nerdy geeks rushing to class, groups lingering by the lockers and teachers screaming at students to hurry to class.

"Well join the club," Jason responded as he dodged a backpack. "Ready for the math test in Ms. Lewis' class?"

"Shit! That was today? I'm going to fail that class." Jason laughed at his best friend's expression. They finally made their way through the crowded halls and into Math class. Jason and Leo sat at the very back of the room and were greeted by Piper, who was already at her sit. Leo sat down next to Piper and Jason followed.

"Hey, guys! Ready to flunk the math test?" Piper asked them.

"You knew too?! How come I didn't know?" Leo blurted out.

"Because you spend more time playing around with pipe cleaners and who knows what else, than pay attention to Ms. Lewis." Piper explained as she rolled her eyes at Leo.

"Well, I better cram now,' Leo started looking for the notes of the day before in his bag, then stop abruptly., "Uh, Pipes, can I see your notes. I used mine to make paper planes." Jason shook his head at Leo, partly in disapproval and partly in amusement.

"Why can't you be a normal person," Jason teased.

"Shut up," Leo smiled as he pulled Jason's navy blue hoodie over his head. More students filed in and took their regular seats.

"Class, settle down. It's time to take the test that everyone's have been so excited about," Ms. Lewis announced while she stood at the front of the classroom with a stack of papers. Cue a chorus of groans. Ms. Lewis was a small plump, fifty-eight year old woman with short, grey hair and glasses.

"Quiet down, class. Take everything off of your desks and take out a pencil," she instructed. Before she could put down the first test on a desk, there was a knock on the door. Ms. Lewis sighed in annoyance as she opened the door. A tall, raven-haired boy entered the classroom. He had this sort of carefree smile as he strode into the room. The boy was wearing an orange hoodie, blue jeans and carried a small black book bag.

"Uh, I was transferred from Goode," He muttered, looking bored.

"Oh-kay," Ms. Lewis seemed unsure of what to do," Well, we're taking a test right now so...just sit," She paused, looking for a vacant desk. Her beady eyes zeroed in on the desk next to Jason," Next to Jason. Raise your hand, Jason." He half-heartedly raised his hand. The boy and Jason locked eyes for a moment. His eyes were a sea-green color that seemed to almost pull Jason in. The boy looked away and sat down, looking at the flat surface of the desk. Jason noticed the tip of his ears were a bright red.

Jason decided to ignore the new kid and concentrated back to what would be to long hours of hell that was Geometry. Ms. Lewis finally passed out the tests and soon, Jason was scribbling done the volume of spheres and surface areas of a two story house. As he calculated numbers in his head, Jason couldn't help but glance back at the mysterious boy that was sitting about two feet away from him. The boy was just distracting himself by throwing a pencil up in the air, then catching it at the last minute. Jason watched him longer than he should've because the boy must've felt he was being watched and turned to meet the blonde's eyes once again. Jason quickly looked back at his paper, feeling blood rush to his face.

* * *

There were five minutes left in class before Lunch.

"Alright, everyone. Stop writing. Time's up," Ms. Lewis called out and people started turning in their tests.

"What a relief!" Leo exclaimed as he let himself fall on his seat, " I swear, I got at least a 70."

"Ha, with your luck, you probably got less than 50!" Piper joked as she nudged Leo. Jason laughed along with them, but was still very cautious of the new classmate that was sitting right beside him. Jason wondered if he should talk to him, say hi, learn his name, but before he could make his decision, the bell rang. Almost everyone jumped from their seats and made a beeline to the door. The new boy lingered as Jason and his friends left.

"Did you see the new kid?" Piper asked, "He's cute."

"I can't say anything, I already like someone else," Leo reminded them. He'd had a thing for their dear moody friend, Nico Di Angelo, although Nico seemed to be the only one in the whole school that didn't know about it.

"What do you think about the new guy, Jase?" Piper asked, a smug and knowing face plastered on her face.

"I don't know," He mumbled.

"Yeah you do!" Piper chirped, "I saw you looking at him during the test like about a million times!"

"I was not," Jason protested, his face feeling hot again. "I could care less."

"Sure, Jason," Leo smirked.

"I don't care!" Jason continued to defend himself while Leo and Piper gave each other a look that said, 'he so does care'.

"Whatever you say," Piper teased on. They argued all the way up until lunch when they sat at their usual table with Annabeth and Nico already waiting for them.

"Hey guys, what took you so long?" Annabeth questioned the trio, having ended their discussion from earlier at the last moment.

"Oh nothing," Piper jested, "Just talking about Jason's new crush." She sat down beside Annabeth. Jason and Leo took their seats, sitting on each of Nico's sides.

"What? I don't even know his name!" Jason fretted but his two friends had already become curious of the subject.

"Who's the guy?" Nico inquired, leaning forward on his chair to be able to listen better to Piper, who was sitting across from him.

"Kill me now," Jason stated as he let his head fall on the table.

"Well," Piper started, "It's a guy that just got transferred her. He's-oh he's right there! Talking with Thalia." At this, Jason quickly lifted his head up and gazed at a particular table that was at the far right. Thalia and the boy seemed to have become acquaintances as they looked deep in conversation. Thalia then proceeded to Jason's table.

"What did the boy say?" Piper asked as soon as Thalia was in ear-shot.

"Why do you care so much?" Thalia seemed confused at Piper's sudden interest, "He just said hi."

"What's his name?" Leo continued the questions.

"Uh, Percy. Percy Jackson."

It was Annabeth's turn to ask, "What did you two talk about? Was it anything about Jason?" For his part, Jason tried to shut his nosy friends up because the last thing he needed was a rumor going around that Jason was crushing on the new guy (which he wasn't).

"Jason? What does he have to do with anything?" Thalia wondered. Piper was about to answer when Jason intervened.

"Nothing!" He said aloud.

Thalia did not look convinced. She raised an eyebrow at the group, obviously waiting for an explanation.

"Jason's crushing on the new guy!" Piper blurted out.

"Will you stop telling people!" Jason demanded. Piper just smiled as she stuck her tongue out at him. _Very mature, Pipes._

" Wow, Jase. You work fast." Thalia nodded at his direction.

"Yeah, although this is ruining my ship," Annabeth spoke up.

"What ship? I can take a look at it if you want," Leo offered.

"Not that kind of ship, you moron," Annabeth nudged Leo playfully. "I mean my OTP. It's Jasico."

Nico, who was drinking from his water bottle at the time, spit it out as soon as he heard her, "Wait, did you just say what I think you said? I mean, I like you, Jason, but not THAT much." Everyone, except Jason and Nico laughed at his comment.

"Anyway, weird pairing aside," Jason piped up, "I don't have a crush on Percy, okay?" Unfortunately, a girl in his History class, named Olivia, overheard him.

"Wait, you have a crush on Percy Jackson?" She asked him.

"Oh for fuck's sakes!" Jason groaned. He gave up in trying to convince his friends and just left before he said anything else that would get him in a deeper hole than the one he already had.

* * *

Over the course of the week, news had spread of Jason's 'crush'. Jason figured it was Piper who started telling people. The most embarrassing thing about all this? Jason had to suffer through Math class, sitting next to Percy, who had probably already heard the rumors. Jason couldn't stop to see what the black-haired boy was doing and wonder what he was thinking about the ordeal. Jason had to admit that Percy was well built. Piper had one thing right. Percy Jackson was hot, but he wouldn't say that out loud. He had enough with being tormented by his so called 'friends' who kept trying to make Jason talk to Percy. Jason figured that if he held any contact with the boy to a minimum, then everything would eventually die down and be forgotten.

It was Friday and there were just a few more minutes before the bell rung and Mr. Simmons would dismiss the class to the bus lot. Jason had been embarrassed about the whole crush thing going around but he knew that by Monday, no one would even remember it.

On Saturday and Sunday, his friends didn't tease him as much about it as before. Jason knew then that they had finally moved on to other matters. Of course, he soon noticed that the spotlight of attention and number one subject on people's gossip was still Jason. When Jason accidently ran into Percy that Monday morning, he couldn't even look at him and with a muttered apology, Jason hurried away from the boy that had given him a confused look. Jason had no time to question this because he was already late for his first class.

Jason dreaded the coming hours that were soon to arrive as he headed off the Ms. Lewis' room. Jason didn't want to sit beside Percy Jackson. It was too awkward, too weird. Especially when Leo and Piper were around. When Jason entered the classroom, Percy was already sitting at his desk, rolling a blue pencil off the desk, catching it and repeating the actions all over again. Jason had been relieved that Percy made no effort to try to talk to him, so he was surprised that Percy would look up at him, smile and say, "Hi."

Jason was stunned at his actions, but managed a greeting and swiftly sat down on his desk. Piper and Leo came in soon afterwards.

"Sorry that I didn't wait for you Jase," Leo chuckled, "But I thought you wanted some time alone with..." he didn't finish his sentence but anyone with a brain would know full well that Leo had meant Percy. Jason shot the Latino a glare and quickly glanced at Percy, who didn't seemed to understand Leo's obvious statement. "Anyway, I hear we're going to be partnered up in one of Ms. Lewis' 'fun' projects," Leo continued, "I bet it'll be something from the textbook. Hopefully I'll get Jason as my partner. That way, he can do all the work and I'll get an A."

"You wish. Besides, we're not picking partners. Ms. Lewis is going to make us pick from the jar," Piper told him. As soon as the last person came in, Ms. Lewis started explaining about the project. It turned out to be a six page packet with a shit-full of questions and the partners had to help each other out when they needed it. Not the most exciting project, but Jason didn't care as long as he wasn't paired up with some Lazy bum that would take advantage of the fact that Jason would never let himself get less than a B on anything, regardless if it was partner work.

"Okay, I'll call one of you at a time and you pick a piece of paper randomly from the jar. That's your partner and you can't trade. When you get your partner, put your desks together," Ms. Lewis told her class. A few lip smacking and whispered curses were heard from the class.

"Okay, Paula, you go first," Ms. Lewis chided. A few more names were called. Leo strode to the front of the room and dug his hand into the jar, taking a long time in picking a slip. When he finally chose, he read it and threw his fist in the air.

"Yes, I got Piper!" He cheered.

"Damn it! He's going to make me do all the work," Piper cursed as Leo came back with the packet of work they had to share. Jason still hadn't been picked and he was becoming more and more anxious as the number of slips decreased and Percy also hadn't been picked. Was his luck really that bad?

"Percy, come pick a partner," Ms. Lewis called. Percy walked up to the jar, casually and picked the first paper he touched.

"I got Jason," he said. Of course Jason would get partnered with the person he was trying to avoid! Piper and Leo smiled at him, gesturing encouragement. Jason was so busy glaring at his friends that he didn't notice Percy standing in front of him.

"Oh, sorry," Jason averted those sea-green eyes and awkwardly scooted his desk closer to Percy's. They sat there for a moment, not talking.

"So, um..." Jason tried to start a conversation but utterly failed. Jason looked around the room and saw that people were staring at them. They immediately looked away when Jason saw them.

Jason sighed, "Okay, so, why don't I do half of the packet and you do the rest."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of partner work?" Percy asked.

"Well, if we have any trouble, we can still help each other."

"Oh, okay," Jason noticed the hint of disappointment on Percy's face as he pouted before grabbing his pencil. _He's cute when he pouts,_ Jason let the thought slip from his mind. He wanted to mentally slap himself for the unnecessary thought. Jason turned his attention to the problems written on the white paper. Not even five minutes passed when he felt Percy tap his shoulder.

"I don't know how to get the answer for this one," he pointed at a problem with a lot of variables and exponents.

"Remember the exponential rules," Jason told him.

"Oh, okay...what are they again?" He asked. Jason groaned internally. Ignoring the guy was not as simple as he thought it would be. The rest of class, Jason went through every problem with Percy and no sooner did he realize that it was almost time for the next class.

"Okay, keep your packets and you'll turn them in tomorrow," Ms. Lewis announced to the class that was frantically stuffing things in their bags. Jason moved his desk back to where it normally was.

" I'll take my half and finish it at home," Jason promised Percy as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Okay. Thanks for helping me. Math's never been my thing. You're really smart." He gave the blonde a genuine and warm smile that it made Jason smile back at him almost bashfully. Jason sucked in some air and calmed his beating heart._ I don't have a crush on Percy_, Jason continued to remind himself. Percy looked like he wanted to ask Jason a question but the bell rung and Jason was out the door, forgetting to wait for Leo and Piper because he wanted to get away from the guy as soon as possible.

He didn't make it very far when his friends caught up to him. "Slow down, Grace!" Leo panted as he tried to regain his breathing.

"Why'd you leave so fast? Something wrong happened with your boyfriend?" Piper asked, half teasing.

"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend."

"Leo and Piper looked at each other and the message that went to both of them was clear as day, 'He's in total denial'. Jason was about to start arguing again when he heard his name from behind.

"Hey, Jason! Wait!" Percy shouted as he bumped people out of his way. Jason was about to make a run for it but Piper and Leo held him in place. "Jason. Good thing I caught up to you," Percy continued, "Anyway, I was going to ask you that, since I feel bad for taking up your time in helping me with my half of the packet, I thought that maybe at Lunch we could go to the library and finish it." Jason was about to come up with an excuse to not go when Leo spoke for him.

"Yeah, he'll meet you there," Leo grinned.

"Okay, see you after you're done eating, Jay. Bye," Percy waved and headed the opposite direction.

"Jay? That's a nice nickname your bf gave you," Piper chirped.

"Shut up," was the only comeback Jason could muster. He did not want to spend more time with Percy Jackson. The thought of them being alone together again, even if it was only for schoolwork, sent nice shivers up his spine and he found himself impatient to get to the library._ It's just so that I don't have homework when I get home,_ Jason thought.

"I think that maybe I'll head for the library now. You know, so we can finish it faster," He told his friends.

"Ah, right you are, Jase. Don't want to keep your soul mate waiting," Piper made a kissy face and her and Leo started laughing uncontrollably.

"It's just so I can finish work!" Jason repeated and he started hurrying to the library.

"He's totally in denial," Leo smirked.

"Amen," Piper agreed. _I'm not in denial._

* * *

Jason opened the door that led to the library. He'd never been in it before since he never had reason to. He spotted Percy already sitting at a table, reading a book. Jason made his way to Percy and looked over his shoulder. Percy was actually reading an old superman comic.

"Good choice," Jason said bluntly, forgetting that he hadn't acknowledged he was here in the first place. Percy nearly fell off his sit from the shock Jason had given him. That made Jason involuntarily chuckle. He caught himself and silenced it. Jason cleared his throat. "Sorry for scaring you."

Percy scoffed, "I wasn't scared! I was just...surprised."

"Yeah, whatever," Jason sat on the seat beside Percy, "So let's get started on these problems." The rest of Lunch period wasn't as bad as Jason expected it. They got the work done just in time before the bell rang, which signaled that lunch was over.

"Thanks Perce," Jason didn't know what he was thanking him for. That he sacrificed his lunch time to help Jason, maybe? Percy didn't seem to care.

"Perce, huh? I like that," He nodded in approval.

"Yeah, well I got to go. See ya!" Jason practically ran out the library. He faintly heard Percy call out his name but Jason didn't stop until he was inside History class again.

* * *

"How'd it go on your first date with the love of your life?" Thalia asked him as they headed out the school. It was finally dismissal and Jason was more than eager to get as far away from school as possible.

"Okay, one, he's not the love of my life and two, it wasn't a 'first date'," Jason huffed in annoyance.

"Oh it wasn't your FIRST date, huh?"

"It wasn't a date! It was finishing work!"

"Whatever you want to call it little bro," Thalia ruffled his hair.

"Hey, Jay!" He heard a disturbingly familiar voice. Jason closed his eyes for a moment. _Please don't let it be who I think it is. Fate can't hate me that much_! Apparently, fate did because here came Percy.

"Jay?" Thalia raised an eyebrow at her flustered brother. He waved her off and turned his attention to Percy.

"Jay, glad I caught you. I needed to give you something," Percy handed him a small scrap of paper. Jason could tell the guy was blushing, but Jason refused to believe it wasn't because of catching up to him. He started to open the note.

"Not yet!" Percy almost shrilled. Jason looked at him, "Sorry, just don't read it until I turn the corner, okay?"

"Alright, if it means so much to you," Jason indulged the boy. With a smile, Percy speed walked. He was halfway when Thalia snatched the note from Jason.

"Hey! Give it back," Jason whined as he tried to get it back from his sister.

"I want to see, 'Jay'," With one hand, she managed to keep Jason at bay and read the note silently. Suddenly she squealed, which shocked Jason to hear Thalia make such a girly noise.

"Jason, OMG! You've got to read this," Thalia shoved the note in his face. _Why was she acting so weird?_ Jason took the note and read it. It was written in blue pen.

_Hey Jay. So I heard that you had a crush on me. I don't know if that's true but I do know that I really like you. If you like me, meet me now at that Pizza Place , close to the school. If you don't, then I guess that's that, right? -Percy_

"You have to go!" Thalia was starting to jump up and down.

"Calm down, Thals. I already told you, Piper, Leo and the entire world that I don't like him!"

"Thalia stopped jumping, "Will you stop denying it? Look, I'm going to get a ride from Luke. When I get home, I better hear how great the date went," She gave me a 'Don't-be-stupid-and-just-go' look and left. Jason stayed where he was for about ten minutes, unsure of what to do. He watched as the school emptied and finally, he started walking home. The place Percy wanted to meet him was on his way home so Jason had to decide until then.

Jason felt his heart speed up as he got closer and closer to the Pizza Place. The pit of his stomach started to feel funny._ I don't like Percy_, Jason's mind reminded him._ He's just going to have to find someone else._ But as he passed the Pizza Place, his stomach started hurting to the point that it was hurting like hell and his feet seemed to have become heavier and were slowing his pace down. His body was sending him a clear message, _You know you want to go in_, but Jason ignored his body language and forced himself to keep heading straight. He didn't look back as he got farther away from there.

When he finally got home, he closed the door swiftly. His mom or Thalia didn't seem to be home. Jason plopped down on the couch in the living room. All he could think about was how Percy would be waiting for him and Jason wouldn't be showing up._ I need to distract myself_. Jason grabbed his iPod, put his headphones on and shuffled his songs._ I could also do my History homework._ He took out his History textbook and fished out the worksheet and pencil. He concentrated on the topic of the French Revolution. Once in a while, he would glance up at the clock on the wall and watch the hand slowly tick away.

He decided that looking at the time was not a good idea and continued to do his homework. Jason was almost finished with his biology essay when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Jason looked up to see his sister smiling down at him. She pulled out his headphones.

"Hey, lover boy!" She greeted him. Jason glared at her and refused to say anything. "Well? How'd it go?"

"I'm not telling you anything." Jason took the opportunity to check the clock one last time. It was five o'clock. Two hours since he got here. Thalia was about to say something but was interrupted by her cellphone going off. Thalia took it out of her pocket.

"Oh it's Piper," Thalia put the cell to her ear. "What's up, Pipes?" Thalia's earlier mood seemed to have disappeared as Piper continued to talk through the other end of the line. Thalia hung up and gave Jason a murderous look. "You dick!"

"What?"

"Percy waited for you at the Pizza Place for almost two hours and you didn't even bother to show up!" She accused. "How could you be so heartless?"

"I told you I don't like him! Don't you people understand English?" He shouted angrily. "How the heck did Piper know about Percy waiting anyway?"

"I told her..."

"Why?!"

"Hey, don't change the subject. Look, okay Piper and Leo went to go spy on you two, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a fucktard."

"Will you stop insulting me? I didn't go because I don't feel the same way, got it!?"

"Asshole," was her only response as she headed to her room. She muttered all the upstairs and Jason caught that dreaded word, denial.

* * *

Jason didn't really want to go to school that day. He tried telling his mom he didn't feel well but she could see though his lie. Thalia was still not talking to him and she refused to acknowledge his presence as she got a ride to school from Luke, again. Jason had no time to wonder about those two because he was too busy thinking of how Math class would turn out to be. As he came to his locker to get his notebook for his first class, Piper and Leo were already waiting for them. Leo looked at him disappointed while Piper greeted him with a smack on the head.

"Hey!" Jason complained.

"Why didn't you show up?" Piper sneered.

"Look, I have a better question, why were you two going to spy on us if I did show up?" Jason countered.

"You didn't show up at all, buddy so you can't complain about that," Leo reminded Jason.

"Smartass," Jason muttered, which earned him a smug look from Leo.

"Well, he might be a smartass but you are a dumbass," Piper continued, "I mean seriously! You've got denial written all over you!" She continued to scold him until he got away from them in Biology. As Jason listened to his teachers, he secretly hoped that there would be a fire or an evacuation before 3rd block, but no such luck. He soon found himself dragging his feet to Ms. Lewis' class.

Surprisingly, Percy's desk was still empty. Jason felt relief and disappointment at the same time. For the fist ten minutes of class, Ms. Lewis bored the class to sleep with her long lectures of mathematics. Jason distracted himself by writing down notes. Then a knock on the door made Ms. Lewis stop and open the door.

"Percy, you're late," she said and in came the boy. He didn't seem to care what Ms. Lewis had to say and just handed her a yellow note. He then sat down without giving Jason a second glance. With Percy in the room now, Jason couldn't concentrate on the notes anymore. The tension between them felt almost solid and it almost made Jason hyperventilate. Jason tried to break the tension by saying a simple hi but was ignored and he felt even more embarrassed than before. Ms. Lewis droned on but Jason had stopped listening. He ripped a page from his note book and quickly jotted down a question.

_"Why are you so mad at me?"_ He folded the paper and tapped Percy's shoulder. Percy continued to look straight ahead. Jason sighed and threw the paper on his desk. Percy finally made eye contact with him but only to show how annoyed he was and unfolded the note. He seemed to think of how he was going to word his response and finally jotted down an answer. He passed the paper back.

Jason read it, "**Your friends are right. You're in total denial. It's obvious you like me so why do you keep refusing to accept it?**" Jason was infuriated with that word. He wasn't denying or refusing to accept anything, he was writing his answer to that last comment and didn't notice the teacher making her way to him.

"Jason. Do you and Mr. Jackson have something to share with the class?" She asked expectantly. Jason automatically crunched the paper with his hand.

"Uh, no Ms. Lewis," he shook his head.

"Come on, hand it over," Ms. Lewis extended her hand out. Jason didn't want his teacher to see this. It was bad enough. "If you don't give me the paper now, I'll have no choice to give you detention." Great, if his mom found out he got detention again, she would kill him. Jason, reluctantly, gave Ms. Lewis the letter. She went to the front of the classroom and got the class' attention. _Please don't read that out loud! Anything but that. _

"Okay class. Since Jason and Percy seemed to find their conversation much more interesting than this week's lesson, I'll read this for everyone to hear to see what's so fascinating." She put on her glasses and started reading. _Fuck my life. _

"So Jason started with, 'Why are you so mad at me?'," _Please, have something fall on her head, make her have a heart attack, anything! She's old anyway._ "And Percy responded with, 'Your friends are right. You're in total denial. It's obvious you like me so why do you keep refusing to accept it?' Wow, this is interesting," Ms. Lewis commented. The room was deadly silent as the students waited for more. Jason already felt his face grow hot. "Jason answered with, 'I'm not in denial. Will people stop using that word? It's really starting to piss me off'." Some kids were leaning on their chair, straining to hear more of the new piece of juicy gossip that Jason would never stop hearing about. "And that's it. On with the lesson. Pay attention, all of you," There were groans as Ms. Lewis got on with the lesson. Jason refused to look at anyone the remainder of class and when the bell rang, he was the first to jump out of his seat.

"Not you, Jason. I need you and Percy to stay after class," Ms. Lewis said. _Damn it_. After the last student was out, she motioned for him and Percy to come to her desk. "Now look, young men. I'm not the one to judge so I'll make this simply. Take care of your problems when I'm not teaching. I don't want anymore distractions that prevent you from learning in this classroom. That's what I get a paycheck out of. You can go now."

He and Percy nodded and headed to lunch. Jason took a detour and went to the bathroom, letting Percy make it to the lunchroom first. After a few minutes of stalling, he finally walked to his usual table only to find Percy sitting with his friend. _What are they planning now?_

"Oh hey, Jase," Thalia beckoned him to come over. Jason noticed that there was only one available chair and it was right beside Percy. _Damn all of them too._ Jason sighed and sat down. Chatter started between his friends until Jason heard Nico, who was seated on his left side.

"You know, I don't get why anyone wouldn't like you, Perce. You're hot." Wait Perce? Only Jason called him that.

"Thanks, I guess," Percy responded. What was happening. Just yesterday, Percy was waiting for Jason for two hours to meet up and suddenly he's sparked interest in some other guy? Jason 'accidently' knocked Nico's open water bottle and it spilled on him.

"What the fuck, Jason?" Nico gave him a death glare.

"Holy shit! Sorry Nick. I'll get you some napkins," Jason stood up, "Come on, Percy. Let's go." Before Percy could question him, Jason pulled him by the arm away from their table. They walked to the bathroom to get paper towels.

"Why'd you do that?" Percy asked.

"Did what?"

"Spill water all over Nico."

"I didn't do that on purpose! Besides, what do you care," Jason growled. He noticed Percy's faint smile. "Well, not that I care what you think. It's just that...you...whatever, let's just get him the paper towels." They made their way back. Nico got as cleaned up as he could.

"Strange, Jason. You're never clumsy," Annabeth noted.

"What are you insinuating?" Jason started feeling cautious. Everyone had an almost knowing smile on their faces.

"I don't know. Just saying," Annabeth shrugged.

"You almost looked...," Piper paused, "Jealous."

"What? Me? Jealous? Of Nico? Hell no," Jason responded, glancing at Nico and Percy, who were sitting on either side of him.

"Are you sure?" Leo asked, examining his expression like Jason was one of his machines.

"I don't know why you guys are acting weirder than usual but I'm out of here," Jason couldn't stand it anymore. He wasn't jealous. He wasn't interested in any way and he wasn't denying anything. He avoided all of them the rest of the day.

* * *

Jason deliberately took as much time as he could to walk home after the bell rang. He was the last person out of History class, he lingered by his locker until a teacher finally yelled at him to move along, he shut himself in a stall in one of the bathrooms for a while until he knew that it was getting really late. Jason popped his head out of the front doors of the school. Thankfully, no one was in sight and Jason made his way home. As he walked, he felt better because he had successfully avoided everyone he didn't want to talk to. "Jay!" Or not.

Jason picked up the pace but to no prevail. Percy caught his arm and held him there.

"What do you want?" Honestly, Jason wasn't sure why he was mad but nonetheless, he jerked his arm away from Percy.

"Look, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. After the whole lunch incident, no one saw you," Percy explained.

"Well, I didn't want to talk to anyone."

"Is it because of the whole Nico thing. Is it a crime to get compliments from other people?"

"I don't give a damn," Jason snapped. Then he noticed how defensive he'd gotten, "Sorry."

"You know, it's not bad to like me."

"I don't like you!" Jason continued on his way home but Percy wouldn't stop following him.

"Why don't you want to admit it. Everyone knows you're gay, I'm gay. I don't see the problem here." Jason rolled his eyes.

"Look, if you're looking for someone, why don't you date Nico? You two seemed to take a liking to each other. You guys could become Annabeth's new OTP." Even Jason could hear the envy in his words. Percy was just confusing him more, that was it.

"Nico doesn't like me."

"Yeah he does! ' I don't get why anyone wouldn't like you, Perce. You're hot'," Jason imitated Nico. Arguing with Percy made Jason realize that they were already at his house and he was opening the door. Jason wasn't sure if he should let the guy in but he was so into the discussion that he didn't care. The house was silent so it meant that Thalia and his mom were both out.

"I don't get why you're making such a big deal of that little comment," Percy shook his head in confusion, "You don't make sense."

"He called you Perce!" Jason couldn't stop talking anymore. He was on a roll.

"What does him calling me make you mad?"

"That's my nickname to you! Just like you call me Jay instead of Jase," Jason was becoming aware of the situation and he realized that he was starting to sound a bit possessive. He tried to recover, "I mean...you know what, forget I said anything." Jason took a big gulp of breath. Percy smiled at him. "What?"

"You are jealous." Jason tried to protest but was cut off by Percy, "Thalia said it would work."

"Wait, what?" Jason was really confused now.

"Nico didn't really mean it when he said that. Why'd you think I sat down at your table today? Your friends wanted to prove that you did have feelings for me and it worked." He was grinning widely now. Jason, however felt betrayed by his sister.

"Thalia is so dead when she gets back," Jason muttered.

"So are you finally going to confess?"

"I'm not confessing anything. That meant nothing. It was...nothing." Jason started running out of excuses for his previous actions. He looked into Percy's eyes, about to mouth off at him and kick him out of his house but seeing the strange yet pleasant color, he softened a bit. At that moment he asked himself why he had been denying the feeling. What was there to gain in pretending nothing was there? Jason felt his cheeks flush and looked away. "I...I..." Jason for once, was at a loss of words, which had never happened before.

"If you really don't feel anything for me, then," Percy got closer to Jason. He wanted to tell Percy that he was invading his personal space but the touch of his hand on Jason's hot cheek caught him off guard, "I'll leave and never bother you again. Just tell me now." Jason remained silent for the longest time, not really sure how to answer him. Percy seemed disappointed and started taking his hand off his cheek but it was his turn to be unprepared when Jason grabbed his hand almost involuntary. They paused as they looked at each other, sea-green mixing with electric blue. Jason wrapped the arm, that wasn't holding on to Percy's hand, around Percy's waist and pulled him closer. Percy's body pressing against Jason made him feel almost more alive as small shocks went through his body.

Jason wasn't sure of what to do next but Percy had already thought of that. He gently pulled his captured hand from Jason's, took the blonde's face in his hands and soon their lips were connected. It was short and sweet, but that was enough for Jason. A sudden flash made them both jump away from each other. The two blushing boys looked at Travis and Connor Stoll with two cameras directed at them.

"How the hell did you guys get in here?" Jason demanded. Soon, everyone was coming from the kitchen where they had been hiding the whole time. Thalia, Luke, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, and Nico had been listening to Jason and Percy.

"I let them in," Thalia proclaimed.

"Stoll, you promised me a picture for ten bucks," Piper told Travis.

"I want one too. I can use it for blackmail," Leo added.

"Okay people, one pic of the hormonal teen boys for ten dollars," Connor stated.

"Thalia!" Jason was about to chew her head off.

"Hey, little bro. Don't be mad. I did it for your own good," Thalia winked at him.

"Now I have two new OTP's," Annabeth cheered.

"Really, what are they?" Percy asked her.

"One of them is Jercy!" She squealed.

"Wait, that's not-" Jason didn't get to finish his question. It was quickly answered by Piper.

"Jason and Percy. That's my first OTP now." She told them. If Jason and Percy could've gotten any more red, they'd be mistaken for tomatoes.

"What's the second one?" Thalia asked, intrigued in her best friend's weird ship names.

"Valdangelo!"

Both Leo and Nico looked at each other and turned a similar shade of red as Jercy. "What?!"


	2. Valdangelo

**Hi, so I kind of thought that since this was a Jercy story and I kind of hinted some Valdangelo, I was like, why not and came up with this. So here you go. A bonus chapter that I didn't intend to write but it happened anyway. **

**Gods, where in my mind did I come up with Fangirl!Annabeth? I honestly don't know how it happened, it just did! Then I was thinking, Let's embrace the Fangirl so that's why Annabeth is extremely OOC. Sorry Annabeth...**

**-Angela R.**

* * *

**Leo**

Leo was having a hard time with the dating department, to say the least. As for Annabeth's OTP, Jason and Percy never seemed to leave their sides. It was like their hands were super glued together. Leo was happy for his best friend but he was still having problems with Nico. Now what kind of problem could that possibly be? Oh yeah, the guy had no idea Leo was in love with him! Now Leo wasn't exactly making it obvious but literally everyone knew. Leo actually couldn't believe Nico hadn't figured it out yet. The guy was either too dense or too stupid to figure it out. Or he was pulling off the denial card and that was one thing Leo didn't want to deal with.

Leo was sitting at Mrs. Walker's History class with Annabeth beside him. They had 2nd block together after all.

"Why do you look so bummed out?" She asked him.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because Nico doesn't know I love him!" Leo said, exasperated and let his head fall on the desk.

"It's okay, Leo. I'll help you," Annabeth beamed. Leo's head shot up and looked at her.

"Hell no. Are you crazy? What could you do anyway?"

"I could set you guys up!" She answered, "You guys would be so CUTE together. I mean you guys are almost opposites. You two complete each other." Leo groaned. Honestly, Annabeth was a great friend, but she was a little crazy when it came to her OTP's. The only reason why he was thinking about how pathetic his love life was, was because being around 'Jercy' was pretty heartbreaking. They looked so happy and nauseatingly affectionate. Just thinking about it made Leo want to vomit.

"If it's alright with you, Annabeth, I think I can handle it."

She scoffed, "Right because you've been doing a great job in getting him to ignore you."

"Shove off," He said in a playful undertone, embarrassed because she was right. He never did try to make the first move. Leo didn't want to suddenly end his friendship with Nico. If this was how good things were going to get then Leo didn't want to mess that up.

* * *

_3rd Block (Math, ugh)_

Leo couldn't help but glance at his friends, Jason and Percy. Seriously, they had stopped paying attention to Mrs. Lewis a long time ago and who could blame them? Mrs. Lewis wasn't very attractive anyway. But it was really distracting, considering that Leo had ADHD. Couldn't they tone it down a little bit, though? Percy and Jason meanwhile were passing each other notes, subtly scooted their desks together, and stealing brief looks that made them blush. _God, where am I? A chick flick?_ Leo thought.

It was a miracle he didn't blow chunks right then and there. But a small part of him was imagining if that's how him and Nico would act if they ever did get together. Probably not. Nico was really cool about things and Leo doubted they would act like that. He almost laughed at the thought of them feeding each other ice cream because it was absolutely ridiculous.

"Daydreaming, are we?" Leo jerked his head towards Piper, smugly grinning at him.

Leo waved her off, "No! Why would you think that?"

"You had your 'Nico Fantasy' face on." Leo shushed her quickly, but Piper ended up giggling uncontrollably.

"Shut up, Pipes!" Leo calmed her down, "And don't call them 'Nico Fantasies'. It makes it sound perverted."

"Oh so it wasn't perverted?"

"Piper!" Leo buried his face in his arms, hiding his burning cheeks. Honestly, did she hate him so much?

"Leo, are you okay?" Jason asked, momentarily distracted from his boyfriend. "Is Piper making fun of your Nico Fantasy?"

"Not you too!" Leo whined, feeling his whole body heat up. Suddenly, it was getting too hot in the room. His so called friends merely laughed at his awkwardness.

* * *

_Lunch (Finally)_

At last, Lunch had come. Leo loved lunch time. It was his favorite subject, after all. Not just because there weren't any teachers breathing down your neck, but also because it was the only time that he got to see Nico. Leo made a beeline for the chair next to Nico. As always, Annabeth and him were already there. Leo, Piper, Jason and Percy walked to their table. Unfortunately, Piper took the seat next to Leo, probably to torture the poor Latino.

It was great to be with his friends. They played around, talked. It was nice.

"Piper! That's my pudding!" Leo snatched the treat from her hands.

"You shouldn't have so much sweets," she scolded and tried to take the pudding cup away from him. Leo turned his back to her, holding on to the pudding protectively to his chest. Nico was looking at their direction, since they were sitting right next to him. He was smiling slightly, amused at their bickering. And no, that totally didn't make Leo's stomach fill with butterflies at the thought of his crush smiling at him.

"It's still mine. Besides, you're only using that excuse so you can have it for yourself."

Then Piper's tone turned mischievous, something that would usually come out of him, "Fine, keep it." Before Leo could register anything, she pushed him, right into Nico! Leo let go of his dear pudding on reflex, instead clinging to the first thing to keep him from falling. Regrettably (or maybe not) that happened to be his crush. Leo automatically wrapped his arms around the other boy's neck and Nico also reacted on impulse. His arms instinctively clung to Leo's waist, stopping Leo from falling.

The most awkward part? Their faces were just centimeters apart. Unlike Leo, who was frozen in shock and was very likely blushing like crazy, Nico looked indifferent with the sudden intimate position they were in. Nonchalantly, with half lidded eyes, he said, "You should be more careful or you'll end up with a broken nose." His warm breath blew lightly into Leo's face and he could feel heat going through him from the close contact. _Why does he have to be so damn cute?_ Leo asked himself. As soon as Leo could control himself, he immediately let go and sat back down properly on his seat, still a bit dazed.

Annabeth's sudden fan-girly squeal snapped Leo out of it. He looked at his grey-eyed friend. She quickly clapped a hand on her mouth. "Sorry."

Everyone burst out laughing, even Leo managed a small chuckle. After a few minutes of that moment, they went back to talking, which Leo was grateful for.

"So," Nico started, " Before I forget, are you guys going to that fair this weekend? I've got no one to go with."

"Actually," Jason replied, "Percy and I were going to go...by ourselves. You know, as a date." He said it carefully, making it clear in a polite way, that they wanted time alone.

"Of course," Piper rolled her eyes, yet giving them a small smile, "I can't go because I have to finish a project for science class and my partner, Reyna, wants to finish it before it's due."

"That's too bad," Annabeth patted Piper's back, " Leo, are you going or do you already have something else planned?" In truth, Leo had nothing to do that weekend except hang out with his friends, but it seemed like they already had plans.

"Not really," He said hesitantly.

"Me neither," Annabeth cheered, "You, me and Nico can go together!"

"Great, so I won't go alone then," Nico nodded, agreeing with Annabeth's proposition.

"Wait," Piper interrupted," Actually, I'm going to have to borrow Annabeth. She can help me and Reyna with the project. We need her brain this weekend."

"But-" Before Annabeth could argue, Piper whispered something in her ear. Leo couldn't hear what message was exchanged but he figured it was somewhat between the lines of "Let them spend some alone time together."

"Never mind," Annabeth backpedaled, "She needs me more. And you know what they say, 'two's company, three's a crowd'," with a wink. Leo wanted to just sink in his chair and disappear.

"Sounds good to me," Nico shrugged and turned to Leo, "See you Saturday then. I'll come at five, 'kay?" Leo didn't get to answer because the bell went off and that meant it was the end of D Lunch.

* * *

Leo managed to catch up to Annabeth and Piper, who were already walking home.

"What the fuck, Piper?" He growled, even though he wasn't too angry, but the fact that it felt like he was practically going on a date with Nico set him a little on edge.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"Hello? You pushed me right into him!" Leo didn't bother with names. The huge smile appearing on Piper's face was enough for him to assume she knew what he was talking about.

"Oh that. Well, you wouldn't give me your pudding," He glared at her. Piper scoffed, "Don't give me that look. Like you didn't like it."

"Piper!" Leo fretted, even though she was right. The two girls laughed at his reaction.

"It's okay, Leo. I'm sure that come Monday morning, you'll be holding hands with our moody friend." Annabeth reassured him.

"Yeah right," He muttered. Still, he couldn't help but feel hope try to barge into his mind. Could they be right?

"Don't look so down, Valdez," Piper ruffled his curly hair, "I'll order Pizza if you want and Annabeth will pay."

"Hey!" Annabeth complained, "Why do I pay?"

"I said I'd order. Come on, we both have to do something to cheer up Leo here! I'm already going to do half of the work." Annabeth rolled her eyes at Piper's logic.

"I guess some pizza would be nice," Leo accepted their offer because, in truth, he was hungry and maybe they were right. Everything would turn out okay.

* * *

_Saturday_

Leo looked at himself in the mirror, not satisfied with his reflection. He wanted to look especially nice today. He tried to tame his unruly hair but it was no use.

"It's okay," Leo told himself, "It's not a date. Just hanging out as friends." Still, Leo was feeling nervous, wondering what he might talk about with Nico or what they would be doing. He looked down at his slightly wrinkly white shirt and cargo shorts. Was this casual enough or should he dress up a little more?

The sound of the doorbell interrupted his mental debate on whether to brush his teeth for the 5th time that day. Hey, he was hopeful. Leo ran downstairs to find his mother had already opened the door to Nico, who was wearing his usual black clothes that made him look so dark and mysterious. Ugh, he was never watching chick flicks again with Hazel. They were getting to him. He was starting to use lines from those movies already. He hadn't seen her in a while, considering that she didn't live anywhere near him and in turn, didn't go to their school, but she did come visit in Summer vacations to see Nico since they were half-siblings but that story was for another day.

"Hey, Nico."_ Be cool, be cool_, Leo reminded himself. _It's not a date_.

"Oh, there you are, mijo," his mom smiled at him, "Is this the boy you're always talking about?"

"Mom!" Not how he planned this day to go. He walked past the door and was planning on making a run for it before his mother's voice stopped him again.

"I'm so glad you finally decided to ask him out. It's about time you got a boyfriend." She turned her attention to Nico, who looked amused at his mom's assumptions. "He's just as handsome as you described. Oh, but he looks a little pale. Maybe inviting him to our annual beach trip would be a good idea."

"Mom, please!" Leo begged, feeling his whole face flush. "he's not-"

"Thanks Ms. Valdez. Your son is just charming. I'll make sure to bring him back by nine." He told her as he slung an arm over Leo's shoulders.

"Wait, what?" Leo sputtered. _Did he just call me charming_?

His mom was too busy giggling to notice her son's discomfort. "And he's so responsible. I like him," She looked Leo, "Bring him to dinner one of these days, mijo."

"But we're not-"

He was cut off by Nico again, "I'd love to have dinner with you, but I think we should get going." He checked his watch. "Nice meeting you, Ms. Valdez." He stuck out his hand and Leo's mom shook it.

"Please, call me Esperanza." She insisted. "Have fun, you two." And she closed the door, no doubt going to the window to see them off. God, his mom was so embarrassing sometimes.

Leo glared at the boy next to him, ignoring the burning sensation of Nico's arm still around his shoulders.

Nico noticed and laughed, "What? It was too tempting to not go along with it." He took his arm off, leaving Leo feeling cold. "Don't worry, you can tell your mom later I was kidding."

"Jerk," Leo muttered by walked along side him to the fair that was a few blocks away.

"So," Nico smirked as they walked the empty sidewalk, "Handsome, huh?"

Leo's eyes widened slightly at the question, but merely scoffed, "Don't get a big head. I was just telling my mom what I hear in school."

"Still, though. I am pretty handsome."

"Yeah, maybe if you looked less like a vampire, I _might_ agree." Then Leo gave his own little conceited smirk, "So. Charming, huh?"

Nico gave a small chuckle and lightly bumped their shoulders, sending a tingling sensation through the Latino's arm. "Don't get too excited. I had to say something nice in front of your mom."

"Whatever. I don't need you to tell me I'm hot." Was that too much? He did joke about being irresistible a lot, but he wasn't sure how Nico would take it since they were alone.

"Right," Nico joked back, "Because there are lots of guys knocking on your door."

"You know it. I like to call myself Hot Stuff." This was definitely not what Leo imagined they would be talking about, but it was the best conversation in his entire life.

* * *

"I don't know about this..." Nico said almost nervously as he looked up at the ride in front of them. The ride was called "Spider Web," which Leo didn't understand why since there were only six legs. Each of the legs held up eight people around the leg and then the seats spun around as the whole ride swung from side to side. Leo had been dying to get on it since last year, but the line had been so long that time that he had to skip it for next time.

"Please! I've been dying to get on since forever! C'mon, just once," Leo urged.

"But what if you fall off and die?"

"Like they're going to let us get on a death trap. Besides, I've studied the structure and it's stable enough." He reassured.

"And if you vomit?" Nico kept asking.

"Then let's hope no one's in the line of fire," He grinned. "Dude, calm down. Stop thinking of the what if's."

He took one last look at the ride before giving Leo a side glance and regaining his indifferent personality, "Fine. We'll get on it." Then he added, "Once."

The Latino couldn't help but laugh a little, "What, are you scared or something?" Nico refused to look at him in the eye. "No way. You, the fearless, badass Nico Di Angelo, is scared of a ride called Spider Web?"

"Shut up. I'm not scared. Just a little anxious." People were already getting off the ride and now it was their turn. Leo could tell that Nico was a bit hesitant and walked slower as they passed the gate and onto the nearest available seats. They strapped the safety bars and belt, securing them tightly. Now it was more evident to Nico was becoming more jittery as more people were getting to their spots.

"It okay. We're not going to die." Leo told him. "You're acting like Thalia when anyone ever mentions heights." Nico was gripping the handle bars, his knuckles turning white. Without really thinking about it, Leo placed his hand lightly on Nico's. It was too late to get off the Spider Web, but Nico's grip seemed to loosen a bit. Then the ride started.

* * *

After two minutes of spinning and swinging, the ride finally stopped. Leo's stomach was still doing flips and the adrenaline was still pumping through him. Let's just say that he was ready to run a 5k marathon.

"Let's go again!" Leo cheered as soon as the restraints finally unlocked. His excitement was deflated as he looked at Nico. Yep, he was definitely acting like the time he and his friends tricked Thalia into coming on a hiking trip up a mountain. "Or maybe we should go play some games."

Nico jumped off the seat like he had sat on a pin and ran off, making Leo catch up to him.

"Hey, slow down, Nick."

"Sorry," He muttered. "It's just that...I've never gotten on any ride or roller coaster before."

"Oh." Leo wasn't sure what to say. He never thought that Nico could be unnerved with something as simple as a ride.

"Now that I have," Nico continued, "I'm not planning on doing it again."

"That's alright," Leo smiled, "We can have still have fun and win prizes." Nico continued to look forward, but gave a hint of a smile that made Leo's heart swell up.

"Where to?" he asked. Leo scanned his surrounding. His eyes fell on a ring toss booth. "That one! I'm a pro when it comes to ring tossing."

"Really, now?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Yep."

"Then let's try it." They walked to the ring toss booth and paid the girl a dollar each for three rings.

"Okay. Let's make this interesting," Leo flashed a grin, "Whoever gets all three of their rings wins and the loser buys the winner a hot dog." He was really confident about this and knew that he could win. Not that he wanted to show off his ring tossing skills or anything to his crush.

Nico simply shrugged, "You go first."

"Prepare to lose," Leo said as he calculated how far he should throw the ring. He aimed and threw it. It met its target and soon another followed. "This last one and I'm getting a free hot dog." There was no way he could miss this. He took aim one last time, but just before he let it go, Nico just had to distract him.

"You stick your tongue out whenever you're about to toss." Nico observed. That comment made Leo throw the ring too far and it missed the bottle completely. His cheeks reddened at the poor toss.

"Looks like someone isn't getting a free hot dog," _God, why was he so hot when he smirked like that?_ "My turn."

"Fine, but don't feel too bad when they don't make it in." Leo replied, "It's not as easy it looks. You have to take careful aim and make sure you know what you're aiming for and-" Nico ignored him and tossed his rings, one after another, all of them a perfect toss. That left Leo's mouth hanging open at the easiness that Nico made the game look. "Huh?"

The girl handed Nico a large bear, "Guess I just got lucky. So about that free hot dog?"

"Okay, a deal's a deal."

"Don't feel too bad. Here." Nico handed him the bear, "For compensation." Leo held the prize in his hands and looked at it for a moment thinking, _Did he just give me a gift? The guy always gives the girl a prize he won all the time in movies!_ Ugh, seriously, that was the last time he was watching romantic comedies.

"Thanks," Leo almost stuttered. _Be cool, be cool_. "Let's go get those hot dogs."

* * *

Leo paid since he lost the bet because _someone_ was too hot to ignore. Not that he wasn't grateful that said guy was spending time with him. After they ate their hot dogs, they played a few more games. Leo managed to win the water gun booth (Nico had compared him to a cowboy) and returned the favor by giving Nico a Batman plushie he'd won. The hours passed by faster than Leo anticipated. Soon, it was almost time to leave, which was very disappointing, but his mom would have a fit if Leo wasn't on time.

While walking back to his house, Leo wondered if the 'getting the guy's jacket by pretending it was cold' trick would work. Why not? Leo had nothing to lose anyway.

"Damn, it's cold. I should've brought a jacket or something," Leo commented, making sure to wrap his arms around himself to emphasize his statement.

"Yeah, you probably should have." Leo faltered a bit before regaining his footing. That wasn't the answer he wanted. He was still in the dreaded Friend Zone, wasn't he? Goddamn it...

But he couldn't let his thoughts show so he teased a bit. He sarcastically said, "Why, aren't you a gentleman?"

Nico scoffed, "Not my style." Leo continued to look forward, refusing to let Nico see him upset at the turn of events when he felt warm fabric fall on his shoulders and encase him in warmth. He immediately turned to the boy next to him, who was now without an aviator jacket and refusing to meet his eyes.

"Huh?" Leo stupidly said, confused.

"It's not my style, but I guess I can make an exception." He glanced slightly at Leo and looked away almost as instantly, with a bit of blush creeping into his cheeks. Leo resisted the urge to sniff the jacket. That would look weird and didn't want to come off as a creeper or something.

"Thanks," Leo muttered, holding the borrowed jacket tightly so it didn't fall off, having a blush of his own appear on his face. They finally made it to Leo's front door.

"Guess I better go inside now," Leo stated, not making a move to get in his house.

"Yeah, alright. I'll see you back in school." Nico continued to stand in front of him, almost as if waiting for Leo to do something. Maybe he wanted Leo to say something, like a confession or kiss him? Or maybe he wanted-

"So can I have my jacket now?"

"Oh, right!" Leo slipped it off and handed it back. Of course that was it. Why was he so hopeful? "Bye now."

"Bye, Hot Stuff."

"What?!"

"Isn't that what you call yourself?" Nico smirked. Leo would never get tired of it.

"Oh, yeah. That's me." _Stop acting like an idiot_, Leo scolded himself.

"By the way, when am I coming to dinner?" Leo just stared for a moment blankly. "Your mom did invite me and frankly, I wouldn't pass up free food." He couldn't be serious. Could he? How should Leo answer? This was harder than it looked in movies.

"Uh sure. I'll ask my mom," Leo managed.

"By the way," Nico added, "There's this new horror movie coming out on Friday. Wanna go see it with me?" Did he just ask Leo- No, of course not. It was just hanging out with friends, right? Friends hang out with friends and watch movies together so he shouldn't make a big deal out of it even though he was getting way too hyper and couldn't stop moving his hands.

"I guess if nothing comes up then yeah, I'll go." Leo played it off. No need to look too desperate and excited as he felt.

"Alright," Nico started walking off, but not before calling over his shoulder, "I'ts a date then."

Leo's mind took a second to process that sentence. When it finally clicked, his whole body felt like he was on fire. His heart started pounding harder as he watched the other boy's silhouette get farther and farther away.

"A date?" Leo muttered under his breath, feeling his face grow hot at the thought. When he finally opened the door to get in the house, his mom bombarded him questions on how the day at the fair went. Leo's mind felt fuzzy as he tried to answer his mother's never-ending questions. When he finally got away from her to get to bed, he felt too awake, his eyes wouldn't shut, and his stomach wouldn't settle down.

_A date?_

What did that mean? Was Nico just joking with him? He had been playing around a lot and being his hot sarcastic self while they were hanging out. Or had he really meant a _date_ date? Honestly, Leo was hoping that it was the second choice. But what if he was reading things wrong? Well, Nico had given him his jacket even though Nico had said that it wasn't something he did and he wanted to come to dinner one of these days. But couldn't that be easily justified with more platonic reasons? All these thoughts were whirling around in his head, giving Leo a headache. He hoped that he could get at least a few hours of sleep that night.

* * *

_Monday (2nd Block)_

"So..." Annabeth started, "How was the fair?" She smiled slyly at him, waiting to hear all the details of his Saturday night.

"I mean, we hung out, you know. We did friend stuff and played games against each other and won prices." Leo said while remembering the stuffed bear that Nico had won for him still sitting on his bedside table.

"Oh." The blond didn't seem satisfied with this explanation. Maybe she had been hoping for some huge confession followed by a wild make out session. If he had to be honest, he'd been half-hoping for that too. "So no romance? No nothing?" At that, Leo felt the blush display on his cheeks.

"Well, I kinda, uh, put my hand on top of his to calm him down when we were getting ready for this huge ride and he didn't pull away."

At this, Annabeth immediately lit up. "I knew it! Did he confess? Did you guys hold hands the entire time? How many times did you sneak off to kiss? Was there tongue?"

"Annabeth!" Leo shushed her, "None of that happened! It was just a reassuring squeeze."

She put a hand over her mouth, trying really hard to not burst out laughing, "A reassuring squeeze where?"

"Oh God, stop saying stuff like that or I'm not talking to you anymore!" Leo threatened. Now he knew for sure his whole face was red.

"Okay, I'll be quiet." She said as he put on a neutral expression on and making a show of clearing her throat, "Continue."

"Then, he kind of gave me a teddy bear that he won." Leo had to pause to scold Annabeth to not interrupt with her giggling. "Then I gave him this stuffed batman to return the favor. And after the fair, I kinda pretended that I was cold and he said that giving his jacket to people wasn't his style but he gave it to me anyway, saying that he could make and exception and then wanted to know when he was coming to dinner and asked me to go to the movies with him this Friday."

Annabeth nodded, looking calm and collected. Leo sighed. "Now I'm done and you may fangirl." Cue your typical fangirl weirdness, but Leo wasn't that bothered by it. It was nice to have told someone about what had happened, but he made Annabeth swear not to say anything to anyone.

* * *

_(3rd Block)_

"I'm guessing your date with Nico went well?" Piper rudely interrupted Leo's daydream of that night where Nico had placed his jacket on his shoulders.

"Huh?" Leo looked at her confused, not quite catching what she had said. Okay, Math was the place where he mostly never payed attention so this was normal for him and that's also why he was barely passing with a D.

"I asked about the date with Nico," Piper rolled her eyes at her friend, but still smiling. "Are you going to spill or do I have to embarrass you at Lunch in order to get information?"

"Oh yeah,so how was it? We didn't see you." Jason jumped into the conversation. Leo noticed that Jason and Percy had slid their desks together completely and had their hands intertwined underneath the desks. Nobody really paid them any attention. In fact, it was rumored that "Jercy", as they had been called around the school, was going to win "Cutest Couple" in the yearbook, courtesy of their friend Rachel, who coincidentally was the President of the Yearbook Committee and made sure to have them on the ballots.

"We had fun," Leo concluded the entire night in that one sentence.

"Seriously?" Piper complained. "Leo, I want details. Details!"

"We should pay attention to Ms. Lewis. She might have something important to say to us for our upcoming test," Leo suggested, hoping to sway the conversation to something else.

"You mean the test we're having tomorrow?" Percy asked him.

"What! The test is tomorrow?!" Leo was definitely going to fail.

"Typical Leo," Piper told him.

* * *

_Lunch (Yes!)_

No, Leo was not practically bursting with happiness at the sight of Nico waiting at their usual table and no, he didn't pick up his pace a little when he saw Nico pulling a chair for Leo to sit next to him. He was definitely not grinning like a maniac when he felt their knees accidentally bump against each other and Nico not even bothering to move away. And his knee was not experiencing any burning sensation at the warmth of Nico's touch._ Too much chick movies! Curse you and your romantic movie marathon, Hazel!_

At first, his friends didn't ask about Saturday, which Leo found was relieving, but then Jason just had to bring up his date with Percy that day and inevitably turning the conversation to Leo and Nico. _Wonderful! Thank you Superman and your lovey-dovey life_.

"Did you guys have fun?" Annabeth asked, even though Leo could tell that she was dying to spill about what he had already told her.

"Yeah," Nico responded evenly, indifferent to his impatient friends waiting with anticipation for some juicy details. "We played a few games and I kicked Leo's ass at most of them."

"No you didn't!" Leo protested. "I totally destroyed you more."

"Like the ring toss game," He asked in a low and, dare he say it, almost seductive and suggestive voice.

"You just got lucky!" Leo quickly responded so that he wouldn't get tongue tied and ending up looking like a total, flustered idiot. "I could've beat you, but you distracted me."

"How?" Piper asked, showing him an evil smile, "Did he flash you?" The whole table erupted in laughter. Piper was going to torture, wasn't she?

"Sure did," Nico joked, "Totally threw him off. You should've seen his face." More laughter. _Thanks a lot Nico_, Leo thought. Suddenly, it was too hot in here. Nico must've sensed Leo's discomfort because after everyone had calmed down he added, "But really, all I said was that he stuck his tongue out when he tossed."

After poking fun at Leo a little longer, soon the conversation turned towards other things like homework, teachers and plans after school.

"Guys, did I tell you that there's going to be a new skating ring opening?" Percy informed them. "Jason and me were planning to go and we were wondering if you were interested."

"But Percy," Piper said, "I thought you said you couldn't skate and last time you tried, you ended up with a fractured arm."

"That was two years ago!" He protested.

"Besides," Jason added. "I'll be there to make sure that doesn't happen." They gave each other these "I love you" looks.

"So when is it?" Annabeth asked, probably feeling a little said that she distracted her OTP from having a moment.

"It's going to be this Friday at four." Percy answered.

"I can't go." Nico announced and all eyes fell on him.

"Why not?" Piper asked suspiciously.

"Because I'm going on a date with Leo. We're going to watch a movie together." Before anyone had time to react, the bell rang. Nico got up and grabbed Leo's wrist to drag him out of the cafeteria and away from their nosy friends. They were lost in the ground. Leo's head was reeling. He came out of his haze and stopped them both.

"Wait. you were serious about that?" He asked through the hall noises.

"About what?"

"About...going on a date."

Nico raised his eyebrow and looked at Leo right in the eye, "And why wouldn't I be?" Leo dropped his gaze out of embarrassment.

"Okay." He simply responded, too shy for once. He felt Nico's hand slide down to take his own properly and led him to his fourth block. Leo was never more anxious to not get to his class even though it was workshop. When they got to the door of his classroom, Leo really didn't want to let go, though his hand was getting a little sweaty.

"Let's walk home together," he blurted out. " I mean, if you want, of course."

Nico smiled at him. "Sure Hot Stuff." Leo couldn't stop blushing the entire day.


End file.
